Mediterranean Fest is a feast for the senses

The smell of Turkish coffee, the sound of kafta sizzling on the grill, the look on your friend’s face when they bite into fresh baklava sprinkled on vanilla ice cream — St. Michael’s Mediterranean Festival is a one-day feast for the senses. And I hope your senses are hungry.

With live music, an excess of spanakopita and a stockpile of cold Greek beer, this fest is way more fun than a church festival has any right to be. The first Med Fest, in 2009, drew 2,000 people. Last year, around 5,000 people filtered in and out of the nine-hour festival.

In an area starved for any ethnic food that isn’t Mexican, Med Fest became much bigger than the church originally anticipated.

Growing crowds encouraged organizers to expand the outdoor grounds and add more seating last year.

“We expect an even bigger crowd this year,” Vasilakis said.

There are a few new food items on the menu this year: makanek (a Lebanese sausage), awamat (fried dough with a sugar syrup) and iced Arabic coffee. On the adult beverage end of the spectrum, new items include wine spritzers and a sangria-type blend made with strawberries, vanilla and crisp white wine.

Once you arrive at the free festival, hit up the tent at the entrance for a $10 sheet of $1 tickets. Most food items cost around five tickets, and we find ourselves hitting up the ticket-sellers two or three times before we waddle home. Big sellers include the kabobs, gyros, Greek and Middle Eastern pastries and the aforementioned baklava ice cream.

Inside the church, there are two things of note: pastries and air conditioning. You can tour the ornate church, pick up a Middle Eastern plate lunch or just rest your gams in the cool shade. Outside, the stage features a rotating cast of musicians and dance troups.

One of the best and most underrated parts of this fest is the bazaar, which is a great spot to pick up Turkish coffee, spices, teas and various knick-knacks from Greece, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. If you’ve got kids, there’s a whole play area for them, too, but we don’t make it far from our shady table full of stuffed grape leaves and Middle Eastern wine.

A couple years ago, in an effort to continue catering to the adult foodie-types who love this festival so, organizers created Mediterranean Night, an extended evening portion of the fest. Something about sitting under the stars, sipping wine and snacking on Greek butter cookies is endlessly appealing.

“Everyone is welcome to enjoy an ethnic beer or wine and dance,” Vasilakis said.

Maybe you sit around all day eating and watching Olympian dancers, maybe you just stop in and grab some gyros for the road — either way, this is one of those funny little local festivals that we visit at least once (and sometimes twice) every year.